For several years, I have been writing about my need to lose weight. For the past four years, I have been experimenting with various solutions for myself. I don’t believe in “diets” and have known that the heart of my program needed to be fruits and vegetables. Having given up drinking (1976) and smoking (1985), I know how to overcome addictions. But food is different. I can’t just quit food.

But I have designed a food program that is allowing me to lose weight. I used a modified fast to begin losing weight. The fast lasted for five days until I started to show weight loss. I was losing weight slowly. Then I added the gym to the mix in a week or so. When I go the gym without the weight loss, I eat more because “I’m working out”. So I thought I’d reverse the process.

What did I do also to begin losing weight? (1) I began saying two things upon awakening: “I can. I will”. (2) I needed to shrink my stomach so that I could feel hunger physically. Some people can do this in 3 days—it took me 5 days before I felt my first tinge of hunger. What a great feeling! For the 5 days, I ate sparingly being careful to choose from all the food groups. Every day, I told myself that I could do anything for a few days.

Notice that I never told myself to lose weight. I told myself to learn how to eat less. To help with the cravings—which go away after your stomach is shrunk—I kept cut up celery hearts and carrots. I ate as much as I wanted of the celery and carrots. Warm soups and/or drinks help appease an out-of-control appetite.